Treadmill with anti-overturn treadbase

ABSTRACT

A treadmill has a treadbase pivotally fastened to a base frame thereof, a running belt that can circulate about the treadbase and a telescopic assembly deposited between the treadbase and the base frame, wherein the telescopic assembly implements a positioning component to engage a first positioning hole thereof to hold the treadbase at a level position with respect to the base frame and secured the treadbase against being overturned to an upright position accidentally.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to treadmills and, more particularly, to a treadmill having a treadbase that can be kept at a level position and secured against being overturned accidentally.

2. Description of Related Art

Please refer to FIGS. 9 and 10 for a conventional treadmill, which comprises a base frame 7, a treadbase 71 pivotally fastened to the frame 7, and a running belt that can circulate about the treadbase 71. For facilitating storage of the treadmill, the treadbase 71 can be lifted at the rear end thereof until it comes to an upright position which takes up less floor space than a level position does. To keep the treadbase 71 at the upright position, a spring pin 8 is typically inserted into and engage a positioning hole 91 of a set of telescoped tubes, namely an inner tube 9A and an outer tube 9B, for fixing the assembled length of the telescoped tubes.

To release the treadbase 71 for using the treadmill, the spring pin 8 is pulled out so as to allow the treadbase 71 being pivoted downward and returning to the level position. At this point, the spring pin 8 is left idle and thus cannot fix the telescoped tubes. Consequently, in case the treadbase 71 is lifted incidentally, it may result in the abrupt overturn of the treadbase 71 due to the weight of its front end, or the direct fall of the treadbase 71 to the floor and thus hurting a user.

On the other hand, when the treadbase 71 is settled at the level position, the spring pin 8 presses against the inner tube 9A as shown in FIG. 10, and a spring 81 thereof is compressed constantly so that elastic fatigue may be induced. As a result, when the treadbase 71 is lifted again for being fixed in the upright position, even if the positioning hole 91 of the inner tube 9A is located corresponding to the spring pin 8, the spring pin 8 may nevertheless fail to automatically engage the positioning hole 91 by means of the elasticity of the spring 81, and the failure of fixing the treadbase 71 at upright position can easily cause an accident.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under these circumstances in view. It is one objective of the present invention to provide an treadmill which has an anti-overturn treadbase that can be kept at a level position and secured against being overturned accidentally by means of the engagement of a first positioning hole and a positioning component which both belong to a telescopic assembly thereof deposited between the treadbase and the base frame.

To achieve these and other objectives of the present invention, the disclosed treadmill with an anti-overturn treadbase comprises:

a base frame, connected with a handrail;

a treadbase, having a front end and a rear end, wherein the front end is pivotally fastened to the base frame and can be pivoted between an upright position and a level position, and further having a running belt that can circulate about the treadbase; and

a telescopic assembly, situated between the treadbase and the base frame for holding the treadbase at an upright position or a level position, wherein

the telescopic assembly comprises an outer tube pivotally fastened to the base frame and an inner tube pivotally fastened to the rear end of the treadbase, wherein the inner tube comprises a first positioning hole settled adjacent to the rear end of the treadbase and a second positioning hole settled adjacent to the front end of the treadbase, while the outer tube comprises a positioning component that can be inserted into one of the positioning holes, so as to hold the treadbase at the level position or the upright position

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a lateral drawing depicted according to a first embodiment of the present invention showing the treadbase fixed in a level position;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross sectional drawing depicted according to FIG. 1 showing the pin inserted into the first positioning hole;

FIG. 3 is a lateral drawing depicted according to FIG. 1 showing the treadbase fixed in an upright position;

FIG. 4 is a lateral drawing depicted according to a second embodiment of the present invention showing the treadbase fixed in a level position;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross sectional drawing depicted according to FIG. 4 showing the pin inserted into the first positioning hole wherein the outer tube is partially omitted;

FIG. 6 is a lateral drawing depicted according to FIG. 4 showing the treadbase fixed in an upright position;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the treadmill in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the treadmill in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a lateral view of a conventional treadmill showing the treadbase lifted; and

FIG. 10 is a partial cross sectional drawing showing the pin of the conventional treadmill pressing upon the inner tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A particular embodiment of the invention is herein described in detail for purposes of illustration. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that a treadmill comprises an upward-extended handrail 11, a horizontally-extended base frame 12, a treadbase 2 having a front end 20 and a rear end 21, which is pivotally connected to the base frame 12, and a power device 22 for driving a running belt 24. Additionally, to prevent the treadbase 2 from being speedily pivoted upward due to the weight thereof, a buffer 32 is provided between the bottom of the treadbase 2 and the base frame 12 to slow down the pivot motion of the treadbase 2 according to the present embodiment.

Said power device 22 can be an electric motor for driving two rollers 23 to allow the running belt 24 encircled thereon to circulate about the treadbase 2.

A telescopic assembly 31 is arranged between the bottom of the treadbase 2 and the base frame 12 for preventing the treadbase 2 from overturning downward and keeping it at the upright position, or contrarily preventing the treadbase 2 from overturning upward accidentally out of the level position. The telescopic assembly 31 is composed of an outer tube 33 and an inner tube 34, which can linearly move with respect to each other, and thus increasing or decreasing the length of the telescopic assembly 31 corresponding to the upward or level position of the treadbase 2.

Referring to FIG. 2 jointly, the telescopic assembly 31 is situated at the bottom of the treadbase 2, wherein the outer tube 33 thereof can be regarded as a rail, which guides the inner tube 34 to linearly moves therein. Further, the outer tube 33 is pivotally fastened to the base frame 12 at one end, and includes a positioning component at the opposite end, which is a pin 35 according to the present embodiment. Moreover, the inner tube 34 is pivotally fastened to the rear end 21 of the treadbase 2 at one end, the inner tube 34 comprises a first positioning hole 342 and a second positioning hole 343, wherein the first positioning hole 342 is deposited adjacent to the rear end 21 of the treadbase 2, and can be engaged by the pin 35 when the treadbase 2 is settled at the level position; while the second positioning hole 343 is deposited adjacent to the front end 20 of the treadbase 2 and can be engaged by the pin 35 when the treadbase 2 is settled at the upright position.

When the treadbase 2 is to be lifted from the level position to the upright position, the pin 35 currently inserted in the first positioning hole 342 is pulled out and then the treadbase 2 can be lifted by the rear end 21 thereof. Consequently, the inner tube 32 can be linearly drawn outward until the second positioning hole 343 comes to a position corresponding to the pin 35, and the pin 35 engages the second positioning hole 343 to fix the treadbase 2 at the upright position (as shown in FIG. 3).

Contrarily, when the treadbase 2 is to be settled for use and pivot downward from the upright position to the level position, the pin 35 currently inserted in the second positioning hole 343 is pulled out and then the treadbase 2 can be pivoted downward by the rear end 21 thereof. Consequently, the inner tube 32 can be linearly retracted back into the outer tube 33 until the first positioning hole 342 comes to a position corresponding to the pin 35, and the pin 35 engages the first positioning hole 342 to fix the treadbase 2 at the level position. Therefore, the treadbase 2 can be secured at the level position against being accidentally lifted, so as to prevent potential accidents.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pin 35 is deposited on the outer tube 33 and attached to a cap 352 to compress a spring 351. Thus, the pin 35 is drawn outward when the cap 352 is pulled by a user, and can be later pushed to insert into the corresponding first or second positioning hole 342 or 343 by the elasticity of the spring 351 and fix the position of the inner tube 32 with respect to the outer tube 33.

According to the present invention, when the treadbase 2 is settled in the level position, it can be restricted from being lifted by the telescopic assembly 31 unless the user pulls the cap 352 outward to withdraw the pin 35 out of the first positioning hole 342. Under the restriction of the telescopic assembly 31, the treadbase 2 cannot be lifted accidentally.

Furthermore, when the treadbase 2 is settled at the level position, the pin 35 can be automatically inserted into the first positioning hole 342 of the inner tube 32 under the effect of the elasticity of the spring 351, as shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the spring 351 can be protected from elastic fatigue caused by chronic compression, and the risk of potential accidents can be in turn eliminated.

Above-discussed embodiment is applicable to a treadmill with unadjustable gradient, hence the first positioning hole 342 is designed as a round hole.

In FIGS. 4 to 8, a treadmill similar to the one in the first embodiment also comprises a handrail 41, a base frame 42 having a treadbase 5 that is revolvable and can be adjusted to a desired gradient. Similarly, the treadbase 5 comprises a front end 51 and a rear end 52.

A telescopic assembly 61 and a buffer 62 are also provided between the bottom of the treadbase 5 and the base frame 42 for restricting the treadbase 5 against deviating from a level position or an upright position. The telescopic assembly 61 comprises an outer tube 63 and an inner tube 64 as well, wherein the inner tube 64 has a first positioning hole 643 and a second positioning hole 642 for being engaged by a pin 65 of the outer tube 63.

What distinguishes the present embodiment from the former embodiment is that the first positioning hole 643 is shaped as a slot extending along the axle of the inner tube 64.

As the height of the front end 51 of the treadbase 5 can be adjusted when at the level position, the rear end 52 contacting the floor has to be shifted horizontally in accordance. Thus, the first positioning hole 643 must be designed as a slot to tolerate the horizontal shift of the rear end 52 of the treadbase 5, so that the horizontal shift and the successive gradient adjustment of the treadbase 5 can be free from being interfered by the pin 65.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that numerous variations will be possible to the disclosed embodiments without going outside the scope of the invention as disclosed in the claims. 

1. A treadmill with an anti-overturn treadbase, which comprises: a base frame, connected with a handrail; a treadbase, having a front end and a rear end, wherein the front end is pivotally fastened to the base frame and can be pivoted between an upright position and a level position, and further having a running belt that can circulate about the treadbase running belt; and a telescopic assembly, situated between the treadbase and the base frame for holding the treadbase at an upright position or a level position, wherein the telescopic assembly comprises an outer tube pivotally fastened to the base frame and an inner tube pivotally fastened to the rear end of the treadbase, wherein the inner tube comprises a first positioning hole settled adjacent to the rear end of the treadbase and a second positioning hole settled adjacent to the front end of the treadbase, while the outer tube comprises a positioning component that can be inserted into one of the positioning holes respectively, so as to hold the treadbase at the level position or the upright position.
 2. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the first positioning hole and the second positioning hole are respectively shaped as a round hole.
 3. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the first positioning hole is shaped as a slot and the second positioning hole is shaped as a round hole.
 4. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein a buffer is provided between the treadbase and the base frame.
 5. The treadmill of claim 1, wherein the positioning component is a pin.
 6. The treadmill of claim 5, wherein the pin is attached to a cap and compresses a spring in the manner that the pin can be inserted into the first positioning hole or the second positioning hole by the push of the spring. 